Mills River chooses company for trail work

Published: Friday, March 15, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 15, 2013 at 12:03 a.m.

MILLS RIVER — Work is expected to begin in mid-April on a rear multi-use trail for Mills River Park after Town Council members approved a local company's bid for the work Thursday.

Moore & Son, a Mills River site contracting firm, submitted the lowest bid of $134,755. Engineers had estimated the cost would be between $140,000 and $150.000.

The proposed trail begins at the edge of the Mills River Town Hall parking lot and runs down the back end of the park, with some of the trail winding along the Mills River and then parallel to Hooper Lane before turning back toward Town Hall. Local engineering firm Lapsley and Associates designed the trail.

The 10-foot-wide trail will accommodate walkers, runners and cyclists.

Council members agreed with a suggestion made by engineer Tom Jones that work on the trail not begin until weather conditions improve.

In other action relating to the park, council members agreed to put a contract out to bid for landscaping the park grounds and areas around Town Hall. Landscaping work will pertain to weed control and mowing, although it may include improving the mulched areas of the grounds, Town Manager Jaime Laughter said.

Town Council purchased a 51-acre tract between Hooper Lane, N.C. Highway 191 and the Mills River for $1.38 million in December 2007 for the park. The rear multi-use trail is the final piece of the site’s Phase 1, which also included a dog park, tennis courts, playground, multi-use trail along the front section of the park, picnic shelter, and the Town Hall complex that includes the town’s administrative offices and a library.

In other business, the council approved the adoption of a Memorandum of Understanding from the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization after hearing a presentation from Josh King, regional planner and Rural Planning Organization coordinator.

The French Broad River MPO is housed within the Land-of-Sky Regional Council and is a federally mandated planning organization. The 2010 Census necessitated an update of the boundaries of the “urbanized area” within the five-county region of Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Madison and a small portion of Transylvania, King said. While the final boundary map did not change anything regarding Henderson County, a small portion of Transylvania County in the northern end along Boylston Highway near Etowah is now included on the map, he said.

The town of Mars Hill in Madison County and the greater Weaverville area and Jupiter Road areas of Buncombe County are also part of the map’s revisions.

The memorandum doesn’t have anything to do with funding of transportation projects since those decisions come from the state Department of Transportation in Raleigh and are part of the DOT’s five-, 10- and 20-year transportation plans, King explained. There is no expenditure on the part of any local government to be part of an MPO.

“We are going around to all the governments affected to get approval (of the memorandum)," he said.

Being part of the MPO means a municipality has “a seat at the table” when it comes to transportation issues, Laughter said.

<p>MILLS RIVER — Work is expected to begin in mid-April on a rear multi-use trail for Mills River Park after Town Council members approved a local company's bid for the work Thursday.</p><p> Moore & Son, a Mills River site contracting firm, submitted the lowest bid of $134,755. Engineers had estimated the cost would be between $140,000 and $150.000. </p><p>The proposed trail begins at the edge of the Mills River Town Hall parking lot and runs down the back end of the park, with some of the trail winding along the Mills River and then parallel to Hooper Lane before turning back toward Town Hall. Local engineering firm Lapsley and Associates designed the trail.</p><p>The 10-foot-wide trail will accommodate walkers, runners and cyclists.</p><p>Council members agreed with a suggestion made by engineer Tom Jones that work on the trail not begin until weather conditions improve.</p><p>In other action relating to the park, council members agreed to put a contract out to bid for landscaping the park grounds and areas around Town Hall. Landscaping work will pertain to weed control and mowing, although it may include improving the mulched areas of the grounds, Town Manager Jaime Laughter said. </p><p>Town Council purchased a 51-acre tract between Hooper Lane, N.C. Highway 191 and the Mills River for $1.38 million in December 2007 for the park. The rear multi-use trail is the final piece of the site's Phase 1, which also included a dog park, tennis courts, playground, multi-use trail along the front section of the park, picnic shelter, and the Town Hall complex that includes the town's administrative offices and a library.</p><p>In other business, the council approved the adoption of a Memorandum of Understanding from the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization after hearing a presentation from Josh King, regional planner and Rural Planning Organization coordinator.</p><p>The French Broad River MPO is housed within the Land-of-Sky Regional Council and is a federally mandated planning organization. The 2010 Census necessitated an update of the boundaries of the “urbanized area” within the five-county region of Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Madison and a small portion of Transylvania, King said. While the final boundary map did not change anything regarding Henderson County, a small portion of Transylvania County in the northern end along Boylston Highway near Etowah is now included on the map, he said.</p><p>The town of Mars Hill in Madison County and the greater Weaverville area and Jupiter Road areas of Buncombe County are also part of the map's revisions.</p><p>The memorandum doesn't have anything to do with funding of transportation projects since those decisions come from the state Department of Transportation in Raleigh and are part of the DOT's five-, 10- and 20-year transportation plans, King explained. There is no expenditure on the part of any local government to be part of an MPO.</p><p>“We are going around to all the governments affected to get approval (of the memorandum)," he said.</p><p>Being part of the MPO means a municipality has “a seat at the table” when it comes to transportation issues, Laughter said.</p><p>Reach Kelley at 828-694-7871 or leigh.kelley@blueridgenow.com.</p>